Tallent
An English and Cornish surname most likely linked to a place-name in Cornwall, especially Talland.
The #6,528 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,477 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical explanation connects Tallent with Talland in Cornwall. One Cornish source analyzes Talland as meaning something like 'high church,' though that older interpretation is not certain by modern standards. The surname has also been treated as a place-based name, with related spellings and forms appearing through later corruption or simplification.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers place Tallent among Cornish names and connect it with variants such as Tailing, Taleen, Tellam, and Tellan. The name is still comparatively uncommon, but it has survived into modern English-speaking use, including the United States. The historical record suggests a local Cornwall origin rather than a trade or nickname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century Cornish surname scholar grouped Tallent with several lookalike Cornish forms and traced them all back to the same local source.
From the historical record
“TALLAT. See Tallard. TALLENT. From Talland in West hundred; from tal- Ian, the high church. Hence, by corruption, the surnames Tailing, Taleen, Tellam, Tellan. TALLERVEY. See Tolleevet. TALLICK. See Tallack. TALLING. See Tallent. TANNAHILL. From ten-hale, for tren-hale, the dwelling by the moor.”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames